After a thorough process of research, review, evaluation, piloting and community input, curriculum adoption committees recommended new instructional materials to the Highline School Board.
At the June 21 school board meeting, the Highline School Board approved:
- Twig Science as the instructional material for grades 6-8 science
- MakeMusic Cloud Curriculum and Alfred Student Books for grades 6-12 music
- Three new math books, Precalculus, 11th edition by Sullivan, AP Statistics: Modeling the World, AP ed. 6th ed by Bock, and Calculus: Graphical, Numerical, Algebraic AP ed. 6th ed by Demana, for upper-level math
At the July 12 school board meeting, the Highline School Board approved:
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Amplify Science for grades K-5 science.
Learn more about the new instructional materials below. Thank you to our students, teachers, families and community members for your feedback in the process.
Science Instructional Materials for Grades 6-8
Twig Science will be adopted as the instructional material for middle school science.
The curriculum offers engaging resources, supports teachers in delivering effective lessons and provides digital tools for learning. The program includes materials in Spanish and English, with the option to translate into other languages. Students can participate in activities, enter data, and draw models using the digital platform. The lessons encourage students to connect scientific concepts with their daily lives and develop their thinking skills.
The materials emphasize diversity, featuring images and profiles of scientists and engineers from various backgrounds. Students gave positive feedback and found the phenomena, labs, videos and resources helpful.
Science Instructional Materials for Grades K-5
Amplify Science has been chosen as the K-5 Science Curriculum. Committee members found it provided engaging learning experiences, hands-on activities and culturally responsive instruction. Its alignment with Next Generation Science Standards and incorporation of robust digital tools make it a comprehensive and adaptable resource for both teachers and students.
Students reported that they found the curriculum’s interesting and thought-provoking questions to be engaging and stimulating. The interactive tools encourage students to think, read and write like scientists.
Music Instructional Materials for Grades 6-12
MakeMusic Cloud Curriculum and Alfred Student Books will be adopted as the instructional materials for middle and high school music education.
MakeMusic Cloud is a browser-based platform that facilitates focused practice, assessment and immediate feedback. It offers an online music library, gradebooks, rubrics, practice tools such as tuners and metronomes, sight reading support and music notation tools.
Alfred Student Books brings more than 150,000 resources. These include popular methods like Alfred's Basic Guitar, Alfred's Basic Piano Library, Premier Piano Course, Sound Innovations and Suzuki. The collaboration between Alfred Music and MakeMusic aims to combine educational music publishing expertise with cutting-edge music technology.
The adoption also includes the Soundtrap Creative Music Production resource, which allows students to create their own music and podcasts. Soundtrap provides Spanish resources, lesson plans, classroom ideas, FAQs and rubrics to support student engagement and creativity.
Additionally, Highline will be implementing a Mariachi program at Cascade Middle School and Evergreen and Highline high schools beginning in the 2023-24 school year. Educators will prepare resources for elementary schools to teach some basic mariachi concepts.
By adopting MakeMusic Cloud Curriculum, Alfred Student Books, and incorporating Soundtrap and Mariachi, the music education program will offer a comprehensive and innovative learning experience with culturally responsive resources representing diverse cultures, races and ethnicities.
Upper-level Math Instructional Materials
New upper-level math materials include Precalculus, 11th edition by Sullivan, AP Statistics: Modeling the World, AP ed. 6th ed by Bock, and Calculus: Graphical, Numerical, Algebraic. AP ed. 6th ed by Demana.
The curriculum and online tools help students learn in different ways. The website shows students how to solve problems step by step, which helps them understand math better.
Students provided positive feedback on the online resources. Teachers found the lessons and teaching materials helpful. The curriculum prepares students well for college.
Implementation
Materials will begin to arrive this summer. Implementation plans are underway, with a launch plan in August. Upper-level Math, 6-12 Music, and 6-8 Science teachers will begin using materials this fall. K-5 Science will have a staggered implementation over the next two years.
Future Adoptions
High school biology and health adoption processes are underway with recommendations to the school board anticipated in the 2023-24 school year.